Hear here!

Wednesday

Sony claims their noise-canceling headphones (Model MDR-NC500D, retail cost $400) were rated No. 1 for noise cancellation and audio quality twice as often as the Bose QC2 or QC3 headphones in an independent blind test of frequent travelers.

What's a Gadget Guy to do?

Sony claims their noise-canceling headphones (Model MDR-NC500D, retail cost $400) were rated No. 1 for noise cancellation and audio quality twice as often as the Bose QC2 or QC3 headphones in an independent blind test of frequent travelers.

The Gadget Guy owns a Bose QC2. The Gadget Guy must have the best!

A check of Froogle.com showed new, out-of-the-box Sony headphones selling for anywhere from $384 to $400. A check of MySimon.com, Amazon.com, BizRate.com and PriceGrabber.com showed the Sony headphones selling for $400.

Final stop: eBay.

This gadget was available for Buy It Now prices between $325 and $349, which was certainly a step in the right direction. Almostasteal was the seller with the $325 price (plus free shipping), but their listing also had a Make An Offer button. I offered $295 and it was accepted within seconds.

That's a $105 - or 26 percent - savings. Thank you, Almostasteal.

Now that you know the deal was good, how about the gadget?

In this reviewer's estimation, Sony's noise-canceling headphones beat the Bose's QC2 in the technology I can hear, the technology I can fiddle with, and the fact that these cans can be operated off an internal rechargeable battery or a pair of AA batteries.

Sony says their product is the "first to use digital technology to provide superior audio quality and noise cancellation in three environments - airplane, train and office." Their digital signal processing reduces ambient noise by up to 99 percent. This technology was good enough to let me enjoy music from my iPhone while a TV was blaring in the background and my dog Chip barked, as he too often does, at seemingly nothing at our front door.

The ability to set these earphones to any of three different noise-canceling modes seems a winning idea. The products specs - frequency response of 5 to 24,000 Hz and impedance of 40 ohms at 1 kHz - were important. The headphone's comfort, at just 6.9 ounces in weight, is unquestionable.

Having run through scads of AA batteries with my Bose QC2, a built in lithium-ion battery good for 16 hours of use with a 12-hour AA battery back-up clinches the deal for me.

A great product at a great price - what more can a Gadget Guy ask for?

Got a gadget question or a high-tech toy to recommend? E-mail gspot@columbusalive.com